Amelia' reflections on spirituality, love and politics...
It was July 1996, it must have been 1 p.m., but Amelia was still lying in bed - she had the splitting headache and felt melancholic. One of her best male friends, called Arkadius, was going to marry a stupid blonde deprived of brain cells. Why did he choose her?
"What a shame.. and what a pain," Amelia thought, "I had lost him, lost my illusions and love".
She tried to convince herself that his fiancee probably was better in bed or maybe she wasn't such a silly girl, as it seemed. No doubt, Amelia disliked her rival and felt the great despair.She didn't go to church to see the wedding ceremony, because she wouldn't be able to listen to the words of the Catholic priest - which united the couple until the end of their lives.Amelia couldn't help thinking that this marriage will be a disaster, that was another reason why she wasn't at the ceremony. (By the way, she was right - Arkadius was very unhappy then...).
In the evening Amelia met her friends in the small pub in Olkusz and talked about the meaning of wedding ceremonies, divorces, contraceptives and abortion. As you know, Catholics can't make love before marriage, they mustn't take a divorce or even use condoms... They also talked about the essence of spirituality, God's care and other religious issues. After the exchange of different views, which sounded like a quarrel, Amelia asked Peter, one of her best friends, about the role of the Catholic church in politics.
"Well, I can't imagine our political life without some noble priests like Father Jankowski or Father Rydzyk", he said.
"You must be kidding, Peter", Amelia spoke up, " Can't you see that both of them aren't true patriots? They are full of hatred towards Jews, and you call them 'noble priests'???"
"Amelia, calm down a bit, don't you notice that Father Rydzyk takes care about moral values based on the Bible?" Peter replied, " He only preserves our Polish traditions, because Poland should be free from those, who want to buy our land - Jews, German people etc."
The discussion lasted for two hours and led to nowhere...Amelia wasn't able to understand, why educated people mix religion with politics. Why are they manipulated by politicians and some priests greedy for power? Why are they so blind and stupid...?
A few years later she read a very fascinating article, which opened her eyes. And now, my dear bloggers, you are also invited to read it...in next post.
It was published in Warsaw Voice.

A bit of love to Cracow

More history and a bit of love to Cracow.
No doubt, that in spite of her adventurous spirit Amelia often missed her hometown. A lot of memories from her childhood and adolescence came to her mind and she got nostalgic.
"I only I could return to Cracow for good and be a child once again...", she thought.
When she lived in Cracow, she was pretty sure as a kid, that it is the most beautiful city in the world, picturesque and full of life. Much later she visited Moscow, Tibilisi, Budapest, Paris, Luxemburg, Brussels and London. Then she understood that there are many wonderful, amazing places all over the world. But for her, Cracow was still an important city, full of attractions such as unique and historical monuments. Who hasn't heard about the Wawel Castle-where the Polish Kings and Queens lived? Many tourists from all over the world come to Poland to see the amazing churches being the pearls of medieval architecture, the Jagiellonian University, many museums and parks. Amelia wondered, how many people know that the city originated in the 9th century, so it's pretty old, isn't it?
Nowadays Cracow is one of the greatest and the largest cities in Poland (the population: about 800 thousand inhabitants) divided into 18 districts. It's the cultural capital of the state. No doubt, a very vital place in Europe...visited by thousands of tourists from other parts from Poland and from abroad. It's a unique city, arousing admiration among those, who can see it.
No wonder that Amelia has always loved Cracow very much and has regarded it as the most special in the whole world.
You're welcome to Cracow, dear bloggers. Amelia also recommends Wieliczka, a small town situated a few miles from the city, where you can visit a very old salt mine. If you wanted to see some photos of Cracow and Wieliczka, wait for the next post - some links will be included...

Silver town

As you may remember, Amelia worked not only in Nowy Sącz (it was a part-time job),but also in a high school in Olkusz ,a provincial town founded in 1299 by the Polish king Kazimierz the Great. This place used to be called a silver town, due to some silver mines situated a few miles from it. Undoubtedly at that time it must have been quite a rich place, but because of some events, like the wars and economic changes in Poland, the town has lost its position and hasn't developed economically very much. Nowadays, Olkusz is inhabited by 40 thousand people and many of them are unemployed...

When Amelia came there, it was September 1994. At that time the Republic of Poland was 5 years old, Poles seemed to be happy - they had lived in a free, democratic state for five years. The could work in international companies, go abroad, visit the whole world and express their political views without any problems. Unfortunately, some Poles weren't satisfied, there was a big rate of unemployment, what's more an issue of inflation became so threatening, that most people had an impression that money doesn't count, at all. You could earn millions of PLN, but you weren't a millionaire, in fact. Can you believe that all the money could be spent during a few days,as the prices of food, clothes etc, were very high?

In spite of the difficulties and obstacles, Amelia cherished the hope that the life in her country is gonna be better for her and the rest of Poles. She was patient and knew it was worth living in this small European country.

She saw many perspectives for herself, "I can live a wonderful life here, I needn't leave Poland .", she thought. Why was Amelia an optimist? Maybe it was a question of personality and upbringing? It doesn't matter...what really counts is the fact, that Amelia wanted the personal and professional success and she tried to achieve it in an honest way!!!

To be cotinued soon...

Hi everyone!

I'd like to apologize, as I really need to say sorry to all my potential readers. As you have noticed, I haven't written a single word for a long time. The reason is simple - I moved to my mum's home just for winter and she doesn't have the Internet access, so I had to give up writing for a while. However it will change for better, in a few days we are going to have the Internet connection and I'll write again. I miss writing, reading and all of you.

Margie

You are still on my mind

Dear Lawrence,
Have you known that you are still on my mind? When all the lights are turned off and I'm lying alone in my bed, I sometimes see your amazing smile and hear your warm voice, I feel your passionate kiss on my lips and then I realize that it's only my imagination, my memory, my obsession... and my eyes are filled with tears, tears of pain and regret. I'd rather turn into stone, stones don't feel anything - no fear, no suffering.
Do you remember our dating in Cracow? We were sitting in the cafe, drinking red wine and laughing a lot. And suddenly you told me, "you must get to know my family in Scotland". I can't forget your words, which gave me hope, thanks to them I thought you loved me true, responsible love. And I said, "why not?".
A few months later,when you knew my heart belonged to yours, you said to me, "Things have changed, my sweetie. I don't know how to put it, but yo know, I'm deeply in love with another wonderful girl. "
"Do I know her?", I asked and my voice seemed so strange and cold. To my surprise, I got a positive answer and you added quickly that you're sure all of us can be friends. It was a shock - this wonderful girl was an American teacher of English (who also worked at NLU in Nowy Sącz). In this way the volunteer from Peace Corps "took" my boyfriend. Did you have an idea that your choice turned my broken heart into stone? No, you didn't.
You went to Scotland next summer, got married and disappeared from my life for good. In a sense, a Polish girl failed with an American one, Poland was beaten by the USA (0 : 1) - it seemed a total disaster - I really felt it this way, Lawrence.
That's the end of my confession - I would be happy if you could read it. If it happened, forgive me my sincerity...
Yours,
Amelia

Dear Lawrence, do you remember me?

Although Amelia started one of her new jobs in her place of birth (Nowy Sącz), in fact she didn't live there - she was staying at her aunt's home. She had lectures only at weekends, that's why it wouldn't make sense to rent a house or a room. As for her grandpas' home, it didn't belong to the family after their death and was inhabited by total strangers.
To tell you the truth, Amelia seemed to be fascinated with a new job, which gave her a lot of new opportunities. Working as a lecturer in National Louis University (WSB-NLU) was a challenge for a young woman with M.A., there weren't many Polish teachers of English there. The staff included mainly native speakers from Great Britain and the USA. Mind you , the Polish teachers didn't earn as much as their colleagues from abroad, though sometimes they were much better educated...
Two of the native speakers paid attention to Amelia - one of them was Neil, a typical Englishman suffering from melancholy or rather depression (fired after a few months), the other one, Lawrence was a Scottish boy of Polish origin. It was Lawrence, whom Amelia liked very much for his physical and intellectual beauty... They spent a lot of time together, discussing political issues, drinking beer and going for romantic walks. It was pretty nice, but it was over three years after - what a pity. It happens even now that he is still on her mind and she wonders:
"Dear Lawrence..do you remember me? I remember you very well."

You can't change the whole world...

No doubt, quest for self-knowledge and love requires constant changes, you can't stay in one place too long, you shouldn't have relations with the same people, you mustn't confine your life to the routine...
One sunny summer day Amelia told her parents and sister (who still was such a small girl) that she wants to achieve her goals and fulfil her dreams, ambitions in a new place, among new people. As usual, they had no choice but help her move out, they knew quite well that it's no use discussing this option with their daughter, she wouldn't listen...
This time Amelia seemed to make a good decision, she moved to Olkusz (a small town situated 25 miles from Cracow), where she got a job as a teacher of English in quite a good high school. Moreover, she decided to work as a lecturer in the best Polish College of Business in Nowy Sącz (affiliated to National Louis University in Chicago). Some faithful readers may remember that Amelia was born in Nowy Sącz and lived there with her beloved grandpas for about 3 years. Does it mean that sometimes we go on a long journey and then after many years we need to come back to the place, where we started it? Does it make sense? Amelia was pretty sure that it did make sense and she was so happy that she had made such a choice. No wonder the young woman was looking forward to new experiences, adventures, acquaintances.
"You can't change the whole world my dear Amelia" she thought, "but you can always be yourself and live a happy life, maybe in Olkusz or Nowy Sącz, it will be easier..."
Good luck, Amelia. You will need it more than you could imagine and take care.